Peace/War

The Socialist Aotearoa group organized a march, including members of Occupy Auckland & Occupy New Zealand, and moved on the US Consulate in Auckland, New Zealand on Saturday. Claiming to be part of a “Global Peace and Justice Solidarity with Gaza March”, they shouted such chants as “Free Palestine” and threw shoes at the Consulate, a sign of disrespect in the Arab world.

They also replaced the US flag that flew over the Consulate with a Palestinian flag.

See picture of US flag normally there (partially obscured by tree):

US Consulate Auckland, American flag in place. Credit Citizen Journalist

The American flag replaced:

Video of protester rejoicing at raising of Palestinian flag:

Video of protesters throwing shoes at the Consulate:

Speeches and signs indicated a desire to tear up the Camp David accords and move the Egyptian army into Gaza to fight Israel.

One might ask where police and US security at the Consulate were in all this? Apparently, we are still not adequately protecting our embassies and consulates, even after the Benghazi scandal and terrorist attack which resulted in the death of four Americans including the American ambassador, J. Christopher Stevens.

Fox News Channel’s Grapevine reported here on the following post from the Syrian Army News.

There’s a new explanation for why superstorm Sandy happened coming from Syria.

Syrian Army News posted this. Quote — “Sources confirm that Hurricane Sandy, now buffeting the U.S., was carried out by highly advanced technology developed by the heroic Iranian regime, in coordination with our resistant regime. This is a consequence of attacking Assad’s Syria and threatening its security.”

Last month, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad blamed the West for destroying his country’s rain clouds to force a drought.

Dear citizens of the world,
We are anonymous. As of today 200 kilograms of composite Nitroglycerin and commercial explosives have effectively been concealed in a government building, situated in the united states of America. on the 5th of November 2012 the device will detonate remotely via the transmission control protocol, leaving behind severe consiquences[sic]. We would like to advise that the contraption is built inside a tamper proof apparatus sensitive to physical intrusions or attempted disarmament, thus resulting in the desired effect, if the military grade device is found before the 5th of November. there is no intention, risks or circumstances what so ever to cause harm to innocent people, but we can not, say the same for the people who are the real terrorists, oppressors and war creators.
we are anonymous
we are legion
we do not forget
we do not forgive
on the 5th of November, you will expect us.

The release says it is from the group “@FawkesSecurity” and references “#OpV” which refers to the actions planned for November 5th (which harkens back to V for Vendetta and Guy Fawkes Day). Other videos and statements from other Anonymous accounts have called for actions in the streets on that day to help bring down the government.

Update:

Since the video hit yesterday, many in Anonymous have denounced it, asserting that they would not employ such tactics. Speculation about @FawkesSecurity ranges from “false flag” and “fed”, to “attention whore”. The Youtube account is not one of the main Anonymous accounts, although it is connected to a bigger channel.

@FawkesSecurity appears to have been on the Anonymous scene since at least the end of last year. The twitter profile lists a Facebook to a private group, with the administrator supposedly a blonde woman from New York named “Jodie Rushforth”, which is likely false. There are several others listed in the grouping as well.

This group has claimed involvement in attacks on HSBC and on Twitter last week over the suspension of the account @Anon_Central. Other Anons are now disputing these claims.

The nature of Anonymous allows anyone to effectively claim to be a part of it. Yet this is not the first threat claiming to come from an Anonymous source. In February, for example, The Anon Message released a video, declaring war on the United States and calling for the destruction of the government, specifically noting this was not calling for a “protest” but a “call to arms”, again referencing #OpV and November 5th. That video has over 400,000 views.

The mother of slain State Department official Sean Smith appeared on CNN begging for answers, asking what happened to her son in Benghazi.

She says all the officials she met with told her the attack was about the anti-Islam video and that she still is not sure what happened to her son or how he died.

COOPER: So you don’t even know the cause of death?

SMITH: I don’t even know if that’s true or not. No, I don’t. I don’t know where. I look at TV and I see bloody hand prints on walls, thinking, my God, is that my son’s? I don’t know if he was shot. I don’t know — I don’t know. They haven’t told me anything. They are still studying it. And the things that they are telling me are just outright lies.

That Susan Rice, what — she talked to me personally and she said, she said, this is the way it was. It was — it was because of this film that came out.

COOPER: So she told you personally that she thought it was a result of that video of the protest?

SMITH: Oh, absolutely. Absolutely. In fact all of them did. All of them did. Leon Panetta actually took my face in his hands like this and he said, trust me. I will tell you what happened. And so far, he’s told me nothing. Nothing at all. And I want to know.

Prior to the September 11, 2012 attack on the US Consulate in Benghazi, in which four Americans were killed, there were two other bombings at the consulate, one on April 6 (when two former security guards hurled improvised explosives at the building) and another on June 6. See more on the threats and subsequent investigation here.

This video purports to show some of the attack on June 6. The video was discovered by the SITE Intelligence Group, an organization which monitors online terrorist activity.

The video was released by the “Brigades of the Imprisoned Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman” which takes responsibility for the attack. According to SITE, the Brigades group reported in a communiqué posted on jihadist forums on June 11 that its fighters planted an explosive in the wall of the consulate, the blasting of which injured a number of guards (official accounts do not include any injuries). The jihadist group added that the attack came in response to the drone strike on al-Qaeda official Abu Yahya al-Libi in North Waziristan, and also in response to American drones flying in Libyan skies. The Wall St. Journal reported last month that this explosion blew a hole through the perimeter barrier of the consulate, one source noting the resultant crater was so big that “40 men could walk through it”. An Obama administration official characterized this attack as “mild”, compared to that of 9/11/12. The official said that on 9/11, “We faced a coordinated, military-style assault. We’ve never seen that kind of attack before,” this official added.

The attack on June 6th followed the June 5th announcement by the US of al-Libi’s death, claiming his death as a “major blow” to Al Qaeda.

The video begins with a canned clip of Osama Bin Laden speaking, then follows with a speaker from “as-Sahab”, the PR arm of Al Qaeda. There is then a short clip of the alleged explosion being set off, followed by the leader of Al Qaeda, Ayman Al Zawahiri, haranguing the United States, referencing September 11, 2001 and the attack on the World Trade Center.

The June 6th attack specifically references the drone strike on al-Libi in Pakistan. Al-Libi was from Libya and it has been speculated the September 11 attack in Benghazi may have been further revenge for his death, as well as marking the anniversary of the attack on the World Trade Center in 2001. Al Qaeda acknowledged al-Libi’s death when they released a eulogy for him on September 10th.

What is also of note is the reference to the “Brigades of the Imprisoned Sheikh Omar Abdul Rahman”. The Sheikh is Egyptian, and part of the reason for the “protest” in Egypt on September 11, 2012 was to agitate for his release from the US to Egypt. He is being held in a prison in North Carolina, after conviction for plotting the bombing of the World Trade Center in 1993 and has become a focus of such groups as Al Qaeda. There had also been speculation that President Obama was in negotiations to send him back to Egypt. One of the people agitating for his release was the brother of Ayman al Zawahiri, Mohammed al Zawahiri, one of the organizers of the “protest” on September 11, in Egypt, according to the Weekly Standard.

Asharq Al-Awsat, an international Arabic daily based in London, has provided a little more of a window into the investigation than MSM has been providing in the United States. The daily describes some of the suspects and their connection to Al Qaeda.

Asharq Al-Awsat noted:

-sources close to the FBI investigation into the attack also informed Asharq Al-Awsat that primary evidence in the case has been lost or compromised after the Libyan authorities failed to secure the scene of the crime over a period of two weeks.

-Libyan authorities arrested 8 suspects in connection with the attack

-The FBI team is reportedly made up of between 20 and 25 agents, in addition to around 10 “Delta Force” soldiers providing security.

-Sources close to the FBI investigation into the Benghazi attack informed Asharq Al-Awsat that this is focusing on three suspects with alleged ties to the Al Qaeda terrorist network.

The first of the three suspects is known as “Juma”, a resident of the Libyan port city of Derna. He is reportedly a leading member of the Libyan Islamist “Ansar al-Sharia” militia that advocates the implementation of Islamic Sharia law across the country. This suspect is also reportedly a former detainee of Guantanamo Bay and is believed to have tried to contact Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. He disappeared from Derna just days after the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi.

The second suspect is known as “Bu Kitf”, a former inmate of Gaddafi’s prisons and a leading member of the “17 February” battalion, which was responsible for providing security to the US consulate.

The third suspect is known as “Abu Ahmed”, also a former prison inmate released following the Egyptian revolution and the ouster of the Mubarak regime. The Americans believe that the Egyptian national sent a message to Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri last July asking permission to form an Al Qaeda branch in Egypt.

-The source also revealed that the Egyptian authorities had failed to provide any information or cooperation with the Americans regarding this suspect. The Egyptian authorities failed to respond to an Asharq Al-Awsat request for comment on this issue.

-Barak Barfi, research fellow at the New America Foundation, stressed that “there was a significant failure in American security.” He added “I think that the Americans believe that Abu Ahmed is responsible for the explosion at the Benghazi consulate…with the participation of Libyans from the Ansar al-Sharia group.”

The three suspects mentioned in detail by Asharq Al-Awsat do not appear to have been part of the eight arrested in Libya. The US State Department has identified Yemen based Ansar al-Sharia as an alternative name for Al Qaeda operating in the Arabian Peninsula.

Two suspects were also arrested trying to enter Turkey last week. The suspects, identified as Tunisians, were detained late Wednesday as they attempted to enter the country with fake passports, Kanal D said.

Meanwhile, testimony continued this week before Congress on the circumstances leading up to the attack.

According to CBS News, a State Department officer told House Committee panel members there were 13 separate specific threats made against the consulate during the six months before the attack. Those threats included a threat against both the Consulate and Ambassador Stevens made on Facebook. One post included mention of the route which Stevens took to jog each morning.

Lt. Col. Andrew Wood told the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee that U.S. security was so weak that in April, only one U.S. diplomatic security agent was stationed in Benghazi. Security Officer Eric Nordstrom also told committee members that repeated requests had been made for increased security, requests that were denied. He said his requests for more security were blocked by a department policy to “normalize operations and reduce security resources.” He stated that Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary for international programs, wanted to keep the number of U.S. security personnel in Benghazi “artificially low”.

It has been over a month since the attack, yet there has been no response as yet from the United States.

Three U.S. officials told The Daily Beast that the U.S. military has the special-operations forces and other assets in place to begin going after individuals in Libya.

“At this point, the capabilities are in place,” one U.S. intelligence officer said. “The holdup is in Washington.”

Around 30 members of Code Pink and Veterans for Peace traveled to Pakistan to allegedly protest drone use by the US in the area. They were trying to join locals in a protest in South Waziristan.

Anyone see Jane Fonda analogies when you look at this? If you can’t make it through the whole going to a foreign country and speaking against our government thing, skip ahead to Medea Benjamin at around 2:50 where she says, “We want to be loved as Americans”. Because all that is needed for everyone to love us is for us just to love everyone.